Secret Conspiracy
by brezo-1816
Summary: A rescue gone wrong leaves the Thunderbirds under suspicion. Can they prove their innocence and prevent a conflict that will catch all of IR in the crossfire?
1. A New Rescue

Hi guys, I've been gone quite a while so it's nice to be back writing again.

Rescue Me turned out to be quite liked so I've started another Thunderbirds action fic. The first chapter is quite short because I wanted it to be a taster for readers and if people like it then I will continue.

Please review!

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"Shoot!" yelled Gordon. He watched his brother practically trip over the ball and completely miss the goal, much to Fermat's relief. 

"**How** did you miss** that**?" Alan teased Virgil. Of the Tracy brothers, John and Virgil were the least athletic but fortunately for John, he was up on Thunderbird 5 and didn't have to endure this game. Virgil, Tintin and Fermat were all reluctant players brought in to boost numbers.

"It's okay Virgil, it was a difficult shot," reassured Tintin.

"Difficult?! The goal was **four feet** in front of him!" Alan would have continued but Tintin was sending him warning glares.

"Hey Virgil, maybe you could bring in a substitute? Preferably someone who doesn't trip over their own feet?" laughed Gordon. Alan restrained himself from laughing too. Virgil turned away and looked at the ground.

"Hey c'mon, lay off a bit Gords," said Scott gently. His youngest brothers' comments were not meant to hurt but the eldest could see they were affecting Virgil.

"You're losing because of him." laughed Gordon. Scott just shrugged.

"Nah, it's because I'm a rubbish goalkeeper, remember that time at school when I let in seven goals?" he added subtly. Alan and Gordon went on to laugh and tell Tintin and Fermat about the event. With the pair fully distracted and his embarrassment forgotten, Virgil turned back around and sent his elder brother a grateful smile. Scott returned the smile but before he could say anything a familiar beeping sound emitted from his watch. The others, knowing what it meant, looked at Scott who nodded. They all ran towards the jeep to drive up the beach back to Tracy Villa.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"The fire is spreading, they can't control it," John reported to his father from his computer station on Thunderbird 5.

"And several near-by buildings are in danger?" asked Jeff Tracy who sat in his chair in the International Rescue control room. John nodded.

"Imminent danger." He finished. Jeff thought silently for a moment and then nodded.

"Okay John, send Scott the coordinates as soon as he's in the air and the same for Virgil."

"F.A.B." John confirmed before signing out. Jeff sat back in his chair but only had to wait for half a minute before the Thunderbirds were in the room.

"Where are we headed Dad?" Gordon asked confidently.

"Afghanistan, a large fire is threatening several buildings and is beyond the control of local services, Virgil – you know what you'll need, take Alan and Gordon in Thunderbird 2 with you," He took a breath and then turned to Scott, "John will send you the coordinates once you are in the air, take Tintin with you."

"F.A.B." To the annoyance of Alan, Scott and Tintin squeezed behind his portrait together and disappeared when the elevator took them down to the hanger.

"Don't worry Alan, she's too young for him and he's got his eye on someone else." whispered Gordon.

"**I know**." Alan protested indignantly. Gordon just grinned. Two and a half men were a little too much for the elevator so Gordon and Alan headed out to the passenger stairway.

Virgil was already changed and strapped into the pilot seat by the time Gordon and Alan were in their uniforms and sitting down in the two passenger seats.

"Ready?" asked Virgil. The two youngest nodded and Virgil set the large bird in motion.

Jeff Tracy watched the two ships roar away and then turned to the remaining Thunderbird in the room.

"Fermat, I want you and your dad to work on the anti-tracking systems on all the Thunderbirds crafts, starting with Thunderbirds 3 and 4."

"The a-anti-tracking systems Mr Tracy? But the post-flight checks would have shown if there was anything wr-wr-wr-abnormal." Jeff nodded his agreement but continued.

"I know, I want you and Brains to see if you can upgrade them, don't ask me why…I just have a feeling we're going to need it……"

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbird 2, approaching danger zone." Said Scott Tracy as he looked out over the surroundings. The main fire was huge; some close buildings had already caught the flames.

"Okay Scott, E.T.A now less than seven minutes, how does it look down there?"

"Not great Virg, some of the surrounding buildings have already caught fire, I hope the Firefly and the fire truck are going to be enough, there's an open area about two hundred metres away from the buildings where we can land."

"F.A.B Scott, be with you in about five minutes." Virgil closed the link and Scott turned his attentions to landing Thunderbird 1.

As soon as the bird was on the ground Scott went in search of someone in authority. He soon found a man who appeared to be a fire chief and who, to Scott's relief, spoke relatively good English.

"The fire is too big, we cannot stop it now." The man explained hastily.

"Okay, my team will be here soon and we will evacuate the buildings and then try to put the fire out, to do this we will need the cooperation of your men." The fire chief seemed to understand and nodded his agreement. Scott spoke into his wrist communicator.

"Scott calling Thunderbird 2, Virg we might have to do this without Mobile Control, the fire is spreading rapidly and it's gonna take all of us to get all the people out."

"That sounds okay, we'll have to use the wrist-coms and use Thunderbird 2 as a signal base."

"F.A.B." Scott could just hear the familiar roar of Thunderbird 2 approaching. He looked around at the area and his eyes were drawn to a large dark building. The flames had almost reached it but there didn't appear to be anyone moving in or out of it. The windows either had black curtains or were boarded up so it was hard to tell if there was any movement inside. Scott couldn't understand why but the building was setting off strong warning signals in his mind.

"Thunderbird 2 to Scott, approaching danger zone." Virgil's voice dragged Scott out of his thoughts.

"F.A.B Virg." Scott took one last lingering look at the building and then headed back to Thunderbird 1…

…

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**Short but I hope it's got you interested. If this fic continues then at the start of the next chapter I will give you a quick summary of what is coming up in the story. Please review and tell me what you think :-)**


	2. Chaos and Horror

Thanks for the reviews, they are very much appreciated.

I don't think this chapter is very good but I hope you like it anyway.

Please review!

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Crash! 

Another of the small buildings collapsed, the impact throwing anyone nearby to the ground.

"That was close," sighed Alan as he looked back at the rubble. They had only just finished evacuating that building barely two minutes before it came down.

"Yeah but the impact will have made the stability of the other buildings even worse, the wooden panels and beams won't keep hold for much longer." Scott told his youngest brother as he reviewed the area again. Gordon was carrying a young boy from one of the other smaller buildings. The boy was conscious and looking around so Scott assumed it was just an injured leg.

He turned just as Virgil and Tintin ran over.

"The other two buildings on the left are nearly done," reported Tintin and Virgil nodded his agreement.

"There's just that small building on the right to check, what about that large one over there?" Virgil pointed and Scott turned to see the building that had been making him feel uneasy since they arrived.

"Are there any people in there?" asked an out of breath Gordon as he ran to join them.

"Apparently yes…" Scott answered slowly. Alan looked at him curiously.

"Then shouldn't we go and help evacuate it?" Scott looked at the building in question for a moment longer.

"I don't know…there's just something about it that's got me unsure…I asked the fire chief what it was, he avoided my gaze and said he didn't know…" Tintin nodded.

"Yes, whenever I point it out to the local people they give me a nervous look and walk away…but still, the flames are close, it could catch fire anytime and if there are people in there…" she said hesitantly. Scott looked away from the others and thought for a minute. He didn't feel happy about going in there but he couldn't risk leaving it if there were people in there. They were wearing their fire kit so that lessened the risk anyway...

"Tintin's right, we need to make sure everyone is out of there," he said with as much confidence as he could gather, "Alan and Gordon will take the bottom floor, Virgil and I will take the second floor, Tintin, go and find the fire chief and tell him we'll need extra men both inside and outside as soon as he can send them, also ask if he has any plans of the building." The young woman nodded and ran off back towards the Thunderbirds. Alan and Gordon strapped their packs to their backs and discussed how they were going to move. Virgil watched Scott as he strapped his own pack on. The eldest Tracy brother seemed unusually nervous.

"Ready to go?" Gordon's voice broke the silence. His two elder brothers nodded and they waited patiently for Tintin to return. After a minute she was running back.

"He said he'll get the men here as soon as he can but it won't be for a while."

"So he wants us to go in alone?" Gordon asked. Tintin shrugged her shoulders.

"Seems that way." Scott looked over at the other buildings and the huge crowds hanging around. The local men certainly had their hands full. He wouldn't expect around anytime soon.

"Okay, that fire is too close to delay any longer, Tintin get your fire kit on, you'll go with Alan and Gordon." He told them. After a minute she was ready and they made their way towards the building. They couldn't see any movement in or out and there was no way of telling whether there was any movement inside. None of them felt completely confident as they reached the entrance.

They pushed the large wooden double doors open to reveal a dark, dusty and completely empty corridor. There was a large staircase at the end and two doors either side.

"Okay, Virgil and I will head upstairs, Gordon you take the door on the left and Alan and Tintin take the right." Scott and Virgil reached the stairs and climbed up while the others began opening the doors…

…

The floors must have been pretty thick because Virgil could no longer hear what was going on downstairs. He and Scott made their way forward through two empty rooms. The walls were almost blank except for some foreign letters that had been scrawled on some of them.

"Wait." Scott held up his hand and Virgil stopped. Before them were two wooden doors and they could hear talking behind both. Before they could walk forward Gordon contacted them.

"Guys, there are helicopters landing outside…" He said in a worried tone.

"Helicopters? From where?" Scott asked him. Virgil looked at him curiously. They couldn't hear any helicopters…

"I don't know, the windows are misted up down here, Tintin's gone out to check, if we're gonna get this building empty then we'd better do it fast."

"F.A.B." Scott and Virgil walked slowly towards the doors.

"Okay, I'll take the left, you take the right, get them out as fast as you can this place is going to catch fire in seconds." Scott told Virgil and he nodded. They parted and approached the doors.

Virgil counted to three and slowly turned the handle.

The talking stopped and the room was filled with an unnerving silence. The men there were sat in a circle; one of them had a small book in his hand.

"This building is in danger of catching fire, you need to evacuate." Virgil told them slowly in their language. The men looked at each other and then back at Virgil. He would have repeated himself but then he heard Scott's voice from his wrist com.

"Virg, we need to get out of here now!" Scott sounded worried.

"What's wrong?"

"The helicopters outside are from the U.S…" It slowly dawned on Virgil what that meant. He turned to leave but then another man burst into the room.

"Americans! Americans outside!" He practically screamed. The situation fell into chaos. The men inside panicked and began trying to escape. Five remained still…looking at Virgil.

"You are an American, trying to lure us outside!" The oldest looking man hissed at him. They started to advance towards him but their attention was drawn by new cries.

"FIRE! FIRE!" Panic spread. Everyone was trying desperately to escape, it was impossible to tell one man cries from another. Virgil ran to the window and pulled off one of the boards. The chaos was even worse outside. People were running everywhere, women were screaming and in the midst of this he could see U.S troops headed towards the building. He could also see Tintin running towards something but before he could see what it was someone grabbed him from behind. He was spun around to see the old man looking at him savagely.

"How dare you bring troops to this place!" the old man spat. He grabbed Virgil roughly by the neck. He pulled him around so that the old man now had his back to the window. The middle Tracy tried desperately to get him off. He grabbed the man's wrist and pulled as hard as he could.

The man cried out in pain. He stepped back but tripped on the fallen window panel. Before Virgil could do anything, the old man fell backwards and smashed through the window.

The entire room fell silent when they heard the man's sickening cry and several screams from the women below. Virgil looked down to see the man on the ground in a twisted and bloody heap. His eyes were still open and they seemed to pierce Virgil with a cold and fierce intensity.

Tintin ran and crouched down beside him. She felt his neck for a pulse. When her hand came to her mouth in shock Virgil guessed she hadn't found one.

One of the local women crouched next to him looked up and glared at Virgil with a look of pure hatred.

"What's going on here?" A man with a thick American accent asked in a loud voice. Virgil turned to see the soldier looking directly at him.

"I…I…" He stuttered.

"We were answering a distress call about the fires." Scott's voice spoke from behind the soldier. The eldest Tracy walked into the room with confidence and authority, no doubt for the military audience.

"Well, why you are in this particular building I do not know but I suggest you leave immediately, unless you want to be arrested with the other men we've found." The soldier spoke with a deep, commanding voice that had Virgil feeling very intimidated.

"Other men?" Scott asked with a frown.

"The local men who were in this building." Scott nodded and turned to Virgil. He looked a little alarmed when he saw his younger brother's pale and nervous state.

"The buildings are evacuated, I think its best that we leave." The soldier said nothing as Scott and Virgil quickly left the room.

Once they were out of the building Scott spoke again.

"What happened in there? How did that man fall?"

"Y-You saw that…?"

"I saw it through a window and then when I came in you were by the window and looked like death yourself, what happened?" The tone in Scott's voice was gentle and non-judgemental, but it also carried the urgency that it needed.

"I…I didn't…I didn't mean to…" Virgil couldn't finish. Scott's face went its own pale shade and he immediately brought his wrist up towards his face.

"Gordon get the Firefly loaded, you're piloting Thunderbird 2, take Tintin and Alan back to base, Virgil is coming with me, don't ask any questions because I can't answer them." He said firmly. Virgil avoided his gaze as they walked back towards Thunderbird 1.

The middle Tracy looked up and he could see the old man's body being carried away. His eyes had been left open and they filled Virgil with silent horror…

…

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**How will Virgil explain himself? And how will the Thunderbirds cope with the aftermath of this 'rescue'? Chapter 3 coming very soon. Please review:-)**


	3. Accusation

Thanks for the reviews!

Okay here is the quick summary I promised: Because of what happened in chapter 2 the Thunderbirds are under suspicion. Things will go from bad to worse and all of IR, including the Thunderbirds, their families and all of IR's agents, will be thrown into a conflict of love, danger and betrayal.

So yeah, hopefully its going to be a pretty long fanfic. I hope you all enjoy it.

Please review!

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The humming of Thunderbird 1's engines did nothing to mask the thick silence that lay in the cockpit.

Scott had his hands firmly on the controls, always preferring to fly the bird himself than to use the auto-pilot.

Virgil sat looking at the floor, wanting to say something but unsure of what words to use. In the end he used the words that were scaring him most at that moment.

"Please don't hate me…" He said barely above a mutter. Scott looked at him softly.

"Virg, of course I don't hate you, no matter what went on back there I would never hate you…but I need to know exactly what happened." Virgil nodded and swallowed hard.

The story still filled him with horror and re-telling it to Scott made his blood run cold. Scott sat and listened patiently. He never took his eyes off the front but Virgil knew he was listening to every word.

"I would have tried to grab him but…he fell so fast, I…I didn't know what to do…" Virgil could hear his voice shaking and worried he might break down in front of Scott.

"It wasn't your fault." Scott told his brother calmly, "He was the one who attacked you, not the other way around." Scott was trying to reassure his brother but knew the words would do little to calm Virgil's conscience.

Virgil looked out into the sky. The sun was fading under the horizon, back home his father would be waiting for them to return. What would Virgil say to him? How could Jeff forgive him for what he had done?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Jeff looked up in surprise as Scott and Virgil walked into the room.

"Virgil? Why aren't you piloting Thunderbird 2?" Virgil looked at the floor so Scott answered for him.

"It's a long story, Dad." Virgil looked up and spoke quietly.

"Dad, I…I need to talk to you…about the rescue…" Jeff looked worried and confused. Scott turned to Virgil.

"Do you want me to go?" Virgil immediately shook his head.

"No Scott…could you stay? Please?" Scott nodded and they both sat down on the sofa facing Jeff. Virgil looked reluctant to start so Scott began speaking.

"The fire was threatening an unidentified building, at first we were reluctant to go in but then we were told there were people in there who seemed unaware of the danger," he explained, "We split into two groups, Gordon, Alan and Tintin searched downstairs, while Virgil and I went upstairs." Scott glanced at Virgil and the middle Tracy nodded. He cleared his throat and began speaking.

"When we reached the next floor Gordon called our wrist coms, saying that here were helicopters outside. There must have been a lot of insulation in the walls upstairs because we couldn't hear anything from outside."

"There were two rooms upstairs, I took the right, Scott took the left…I went inside and there were men gathered inside, several were sat in a circle…I told them that they needed to evacuate the building, then I heard Scott called me on my wrist com, saying that we needed to get out and that the helicopters outside were from the United States." Jeff's eyebrows rose sharply in surprise.

"One of the men from Scott's room had seen the helicopters and burst into my room yelling 'Americans!'. There was panic, everyone was running around. Some of the men accused me of bringing the troops to the building and advanced towards me but then there was a shout of 'Fire!' and everyone was distracted."

"I ran to the window and pulled off the boards to see outside but then one of the old men grabbed me and spun me around, I tried to get him off me but when he did let go he tripped on something on the floor and fell backwards through the window…" Jeff went visibly pale. Virgil tried to continue but his voice shook. Scott placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and continued for him.

"The man fell from the second floor to the ground, Tintin ran to him and checked for a pulse but he was dead," said Scott quietly "A U.S soldier entered the room and asked Virgil what was going on, I came in and explained to him what we were doing there but he seemed rather hostile so we left…I thought it would be best if Gordon piloted Thunderbird 2 and Virgil came with me…"

Scott immediately expressed what he had already told Virgil. Jeff took in all the information and nodded.

"I'm sorry Dad, I didn't mean for it to happen…" Virgil said weakly. Jeff looked firmly at his son.

"Virgil, you were not to blame for this, Scott's right, that man attacked you." Virgil looked slightly relieved when he heard his father's words but there was still a dark look of fear and guilt on his face.

The momentary silence ended when Gordon marched into the room. All three looked surprised as they had been too distracted to even hear Thunderbird 2 land. The second youngest looked at Scott with severe annoyance.

"**What** was going on back there? You order me to fly Thunderbird 2, Virgil goes with you but you won't say why and you don't bother to contact me for the entire journey back! Why?" Scott immediately looked very guilty.

"Gords, I'm sorry, I should have explained…it was just…I'm sorry-"

"Gordon, don't blame Scott! It was my fault!" Virgil insisted.

"Virgil, I should have handled the situation better, this wasn't your fault!"

"What wasn't his fault?" Alan asked as he and Tintin entered the room behind Gordon. Virgil's face flooded with even more guilt and Scott didn't look keen on explaining.

"Scott and Virgil, you two can go now…the rest of you sit down; I need to talk to you." Jeff said firmly. The two eldest nodded numbly and walked out. As they walked away they could hear Jeff beginning to explain what had happened.

Without taking any notice of where they were going they walked out onto the terrace, past Penny's favourite deck chair and out towards the shore.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

The beach looked so calm during the early evening and it did a lot to calm the brothers' nerves. They both looked out onto the horizon, wondering how their brothers were taking the news.

Virgil looked at his eldest brother with wonder.

"How do you do it?" Scott looked at him.

"Do what?"

"Stay calm…I was a wreck during that rescue, if you hadn't been there I would have fallen apart…how do you keep so cool and controlled?" Scott looked back towards the sea.

"I have to Virgil, if I don't then I could lose one of you and that's not gonna happen." He said it so calmly which didn't surprise Virgil. Each of them would rather die themselves than lose a brother. In the rescue business they had faced that situation many times.

Scott stretched his arms and let out a yawn.

"Well, it's early but I'm exhausted, I'm gonna get some sleep, you should too." Virgil nodded and they both headed back up the beach towards Tracy Villa…

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Gordon nodded quietly. Alan and Tintin were unsure of how to react.

"As you can imagine, Virgil is feeling awful about this, so we need to offer him all the help and comfort we can…he blames himself and that is not likely to leave him, we can only hope the grief gets easier to live with." Jeff spoke quietly. He wished there was something he could say to Virgil that would make him feel better but he knew how Virgil was feeling. Jeff had felt that feeling before, perhaps his pain was even greater than his son's.

"Where is Virgil now?" asked Tintin.

"He's gone to bed," answered Scott as he walked into the room, "I'm just about to head up myself."

"Scott, I'm sorry about earlier…I was just-"

"Its okay, Gords." Scott cut in softly.

"How's Virgil?" Alan asked the eldest.

"I don't know really, it's a huge weight on his shoulders, hopefully he'll feel better in the morning…"

…

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

The bright sunlight crept through the blinds in Virgil's room. His eyes stuttered open and he pulled himself up. Virgil Tracy had quite the bed head as he left his room, still in his pajamas. He reached the end of the corridor and then sleepily but swiftly turned around and returned to his room, lazily flopping down on the bed again.

"Wake up Virg." Scott laughed as he looked into his brother's room.

"Mnmphf…" came the muffled reply. Scott walked in, picked the clothes off the floor and threw them at Virgil's head.

"I think Onaha is making pancakes…" Scott said in a tuneful voice. He left the room smiling as Virgil hurried to get dressed and join him downstairs.

…

Needless to say, Scott and Virgil dropped their forks on their plates completely stuffed.

"It's a good thing I make enough to feed an army, you two could give any regiment a run for their money," laughed Onaha as she gathered up the dishes.

"Well, how can we not eat every bite when it's your amazing cooking Onaha?" Scott smiled and the good-natured house-keeper smiled back.

"Suck up." Virgil muttered with a small grin. Scott just shrugged his shoulders and turned back to Onaha.

"Where's Dad this morning?"

"I think he is in his office speaking to your brother." She said with a smile, knowing the information would get a happy reaction from Scott.

"John's on the line?" He and Virgil sprang from their seats and ran from the kitchen, their full stomachs completely forgotten.

…

Scott reached the office first but stopped abruptly when he saw his father's worried face.

"Dad? What is it? Is John alright?" he asked quickly.

"I'm fine Scott." John's voice sounded from the computer speakers. Scott walked up and stood behind his father and was relieved to see John sitting in Thunderbird 5 looking completely fine.

"Then what's wrong?" Scott asked both their father and John as Virgil walked into the room.

"It seems that the old man that died yesterday…he was a senior member of a guerrilla troop based in that area…and his daughter has accused International Rescue of his murder…the group is furious and has publicly announced they intend to retaliate." Scott and Jeff looked at Virgil, who had gone an awfully pale colour.

"It seems that may not be all of our worries." Gordon announced as he and the others, including Brains, Fermat, Onaha and Kyrano, walked into the room. He placed the sheet of paper he was holding onto the desk.

"This is a printout of the front page of the New York Times." He said gravely as the family gathered round to look at it. What they saw shocked them all beyond belief.

**-**

"**INTERNATIONAL RESCUE TERRORISTS?"**

"**Why were the Thunderbirds found at a Taliban base?"**

**-**

Scott looked at John and they shared a grave look. Things were about to get from bad to worse…

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**What is going to happen to the Thunderbirds? Can they prove their innocence? Chapter 4 will be up soon!**


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